Internet Banned In Northern Afghanistan As Taliban Aims To ‘Prevent Immorality’

Last Updated:September 18, 2025, 16:34 IST

The Taliban imposed a Wi-Fi ban in northern Afghanistan, affecting Balkh, Baghlan, Badakhshan, Kunduz, Nangarhar, and Takhar, citing immorality concerns, sparking criticisms.

Internet access was cut off in the provinces of Baghlan, Badakhshan, Kunduz, Nangarhar, and Takhar on Thursday

The Taliban administration has imposed an internet ban across the northern parts of the country to “prevent immorality”.

For the first time, such a ban has been imposed since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021. It has left government offices, the private sector, public institutions, and homes in the northern region without Wi-Fi internet. However, mobile internet remains functional.

According to a report by Associated Press, the northern Balkh province confirmed a Wi-Fi shutdown on Tuesday. Officials in the east and north on Thursday said internet access was cut off in the provinces of Baghlan, Badakhshan, Kunduz, Nangarhar, and Takhar.

“This measure was taken to prevent immorality, and an alternative will be built within the country for necessities,” Haji Attaullah Zaid, a provincial government spokesman, told AP.

Slamming the latest order, former US Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said: “If pornography is really the concern, like in many Islamic countries, it can easily be filtered. Many countries in the Islamic world do exactly that.”

The Afghanistan Media Support Organization said that this order will disrupt “millions of citizens’ access to free information and essential services”. “It also poses a grave threat to freedom of expression and the work of the media,” it said.

Last year, the Taliban announced a long set of rules governing morality, such as requiring women to cover their faces and men to grow beards, to banning car drivers from playing music.

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